Trouble in the Ballroom
by Musical Sunrise
Summary: When Merryweather accompanies her brother to a party, she wanders off and finds herself in trouble.


**This was requested by my friend Galileo, who just recently got an account here. I don't think this was exactly what she was looking for, but I think she'll like it anyways. Enjoy, and I don't own Count Cain or the characters used.**

It was wide and spacious in the ballroom where Merryweather Hargreaves, formerly Merryweather Duke, wandered. The beautiful, blonde ten-year-old was bored silly, and wondered why she'd ever begged Cain to allow her to accompany him here in the first place. She supposed that it was because he and Oscar were always running off to these parties, and she wanted to see what all the fuss was about. That, and perhaps interfere with some of the girls that her big brother would inevitably try to pick up.

And he was always saying that Oscar was bad! Cain was just as much the playboy as the other man was! He was just better at it.

Merry sighed, putting her hands on her hips as she looked around. Well, any interfering she'd planned to do was completely on hold now: She'd completely lost sight of her older brother and their idiot friend. Not even Riff, her brother's faithful shadow, was anywhere within view. In short, Merry was in a roomful of strangers, completely unsupervised.

This hadn't occurred since her days in the slums, back before her mother had died, or after her mother had died and before she had met Cain. That had been quite some time ago, and she wasn't quite sure what to do with her new freedom, however temporary it may be.

For a while, she wandered around, admiring people's clothes and watching with some amusement each time some new drama unfolded. Pompadour-style dresses were definitely the favoured style of many of the women, with those who hadn't managed to get their hands on one earning disdainful looks from the women who felt superior for being the better dressed. There was also a strong prevalence of floral patterns, which she hadn't really noticed before.

Oh, one woman had just slapped a gentleman, possibly a fiancée or someone looking for her hand. Ouch, that had to hurt. The poor young man's left cheek was now a bright red colour from the impact, and he had scratches from the lady's nails. The lady stormed off, the man protesting her departure and trying to get back into her good-graces, all while holding his injured cheek. A few nearby young men smirked at him as they converged on the lady, each one trying to earn her attention. So she was popular, then, and judging from her behaviour, she'd put on the airs to go with it. Merry couldn't help but dislike her immediately.

Turning away in disgust at this display, she sought out something more interesting. Really, she should have just stayed at home. Settling herself down in a corner, she pulled out her tarot cards. She always had them with her, having previously made her living doing readings. And the cards had belonged to her mother, so they also had that sentimental value.

Absently, she flipped through the cards, positioning them and flipping them over, only half paying attention to the results. After all, she wasn't serious about it and wasn't putting in any of her usual effort, so the results wouldn't be accurate. She hadn't even decided on what she was doing a reading for.

"Oh, you do tarot readings?" A voice asked, causing Merry to look up from where she was fiddling with a familiar card, _The Hanged Man_. It was the one that had caused her meeting with her brother.

Standing in front of Merry was a pretty young woman, recently married, judging from her age and the ring on her finger. She was looking at Merry and her cards with obvious interest, which didn't surprise Merryweather since many of her customers had been young women looking for advice in love.

"Oh, yes." She replied, smiling at the lady with her usual friendly, cheerful nature. "It's more of a hobby these days, but my readings are always very accurate. Would you like me to do one for you?" She offered, since it was something to do while she kept an eye out for Cain, Oscar, and Riff.

The woman smiled, happy with the offer. "Yes, please!" She said eagerly, crouching down to Merry's level so that she could see the cards better. This somewhat surprised Merry, since most nobles were much too proud to do something as undignified as crouching on a floor, let alone in public. Even so, she smiled and gathered up her cards anyway.

"My name is Susanna. Susanna Wainwright." The lady continued as Merry shuffled the cards. "I just got married, you see, and of course I'm anxious about that. Will my marriage go well?"

"Well, we'll see." Merry replied, beginning to lay out the cards as Susanna watched nervously. She concentrated hard, focusing on the question and the woman in front of her, knowing that the rest would be up to fate and the cards. "Hm... Your husband is a docile man." She murmured, not noticing the woman's startled look and excited nod. "You may have a bit of financial trouble if you're not careful with your love of jewelry, but your marriage will be fairly smooth as long as you both communicate with each other. Your husband is the type who would do anything to make you happy, so don't take advantage of him too much." Merry said, looking up.

"Oh, yes! Thank you!" Susanna exclaimed, beaming. She giggled to herself and got to her feet, and after Merry had assured her that she had no need to be paid, the older woman left.

After she had departed, Merry realized that her reading had drawn a small crowd. It looked like she would be in this corner for longer than she'd expected. So she did a few more readings, before excusing herself and making a hasty escape.

Now that she was back to wandering through the crowds of people with nothing to distract her, Merry began to feel a little upset. Were they even looking for her? If they were, surely they would have found her by now. If not for the amount of people, it wouldn't be very easy to get lost here. It was big, but it was only a single room. Then again, her brother could have made off with some young, bright-eyed, adoring young woman, and she wouldn't have put it past him. But given how protective of her he was, she doubted that this was the case. Oscar would be the one more likely to be guilty of that, though he repeatedly claimed to be in love with her.

The thought made Merry snort, a very unladylike thing to do, as the looks she was sent reminded her. The very idea of the big lug being in love with her was laughable – he'd hardly done anything to prove it. And protecting her that one time at the Crimone Garden didn't count. It could have been out of a sense of duty, or as an act of loyalty for her brother. It had nothing to do with personal feelings; his or hers. The girl herself was wholly unimpressed by her brother's overly-large, overly-stupid friend.

Without really noticing, she wandered close to the balconies. When a cold brush of air blew against her, she noticed. Deciding that some fresh air would be more than welcome, she walked out on to the balcony. She ignored a couple that had pressed themselves into a shadowy corner, not interested in spying on them and spreading gossip. Leaning her forearms against the cool railing, she looked out across the gardens. It likely would have been a more impressive view, if it weren't so dark. As it was, she could hardly see anything in the shadows below. Which is why the next events came as a complete surprise.

A large hand grabbed her roughly by the arm, and at the same time another hand clamped over her mouth, just as she was about to scream. Her insides froze with fear as she was lifted off the ground by the strong arms of her captor, and she began to kick frantically. It was hard, since he had quite a firm hold on her, but she fought as best she could, hoping that maybe she would hit something tender and be freed. However, even without being held so tightly, it was hard to fight in her dressy skirts and layers of petticoats.

Her eyes darted to the corner where she'd previously seen the couple, hoping that they would notice and come to her rescue. Her hopes were dashed when she saw that they were no longer there, having probably moved off while she was daydreaming.

The thug that had grabbed her carefully lifted her over the railing and lowered her down off the edge of the balcony, passing her off to the waiting accomplice. It was a rather difficult feat, given how wildly she was thrashing. As they were exchanging the hands that were silencing her and muttering about what a good price they'd get for her, there was a brief moment where her mouth was left wholly uncovered.

She, of course, used this to her full advantage.

"Big brother!" She screamed with all the volume and lung power of a terrified girl. Both men cringed, panicking and trying to gag her as she continued to scream for her brother. By the time they'd managed to do so, it was already too late.

"Excuse me, but I trust that you'll be letting go of my sister." A cool voice said as a gun point was pressed into the back of the thug that held her captive. Merry's heart soared with recognition, and she tried to wiggle herself free. The other thug made a dash for it, abandoning both her and his companion.

"Dammit..." A rough voice growled, and the arms that held her immobile suddenly gave way.

Merry dropped to the ground, panting as the terror that had tightened her lungs gave way.

"Hey! Get back here, you!" Another voice, overly-loud and very familiar, yelled and she looked up as Oscar furiously gave chase to the fading silhouette of the escaping kidnapper.

"Are you all right, Merry?" Cain asked, kneeling down next to her while Riff took charge of his captive.

Rather than answering, Merry threw herself at her brother, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. She tried to be brave and not cry, but she was failing miserably. She'd been scared! As she sniffled, Cain made shushing noises and rubbed her back soothingly.

"Stupid-! Looked for you everywhere... goons came out of nowhere... so scary!" Merry sobbed, pounding a fist weakly again her brother's chest. If they hadn't all wandered off and abandoned her, this never would have happened!

"I'm sorry. Everything's okay now." Cain said soothingly, picking her up and deciding against telling her that _she _had been the one to wander off, and that he'd been worried sick all this time.

"Got him!"

Both Merry and Cain turned to see Oscar approaching, the thug he'd apprehended draped over one of his broad shoulders in an unconscious heap, and obvious lump on his head.

"What do you know, you're actually useful for something after all, Oscar!" Merry exclaimed, impressed.

"That's harsh, Merry." Oscar said, looking pained. "You don't need to sound so surprised. And quit laughing, Cain!"

Cain just shook his head, and after Riff had passed the criminals over to the police, they abandoned Oscar and headed home.


End file.
